Still need a stellar Christmas Day dessert idea? Look no further! Even if you already have your Christmas menu all planned out, this amazing turtle cheesecake might just make you change your mind….

Cheesecake is definitely one of my favorite desserts to take to parties when I know I’ll be feeding both health nuts and “normal” people. My healthy version of my Grandma’s famous cheesecake (you can also find it on page 352 of my cookbook) is always a hit, so I used it as the base for this turtle cheesecake with its interspersed chocolate chips, thick layer of caramel topping, and chopped pecans. Don’t want to make caramel (my recipe below is super easy, I promise) or don’t like nuts? Just leave those off and enjoy a simple chocolate chip cheesecake!

I knew I needed to post this earlyish in the week so you all can include it in your Christmas menus, so I made it Monday night. I took a piece out to taste and photograph yesterday (Tuesday), and I’m hoping the rest will keep OK in the fridge so I can take it to our family Christmas gathering on Sunday. In my experience, cheesecake gets better and better as it ages, so I have high hopes that my scheme is going to work.

Are you scared of making cheesecake? I used to think that cheesecake must be really involved and time-consuming to make, but once I took the plunge and actually made one a few years ago, I realized that I had been fostering a bunch of crazy notions about cheesecake. It’s actually really easy to make! If you want a pretty cheesecake without cracks on top, be sure to use full-fat ingredients and bring all ingredients to room temperature before mixing them up. The tricks I used in the recipe below of baking the cheesecake in a water bath and letting it slowly cool in the oven after baking seem to help as well. The fewer drastic temperature changes your cheesecake has to undergo, the better. With this cheesecake, it doesn’t really matter. I mean, you’re covering up the top with caramel and pecans and chocolate chips anyway.

I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas focused on Christ – the true reason for the season. We like to focus on the cute baby in the manger, and it really is incredible that God would take human form and come to live on earth, but remember that He didn’t remain a baby! He became a man, showed us how to live and love, then took our sins upon Himself and gave His life for us. But the story still doesn’t end there! He proved His power over sin and death by rising from the dead, then He ascended into Heaven and is sitting at the right hand of God the Father interceding for us. Right now. We owe Him our lives, our love, our entire beings.

As always, check out the Notes section of the recipe for extra info. Check out the links in and below the recipe to see the products I use and recommend. Some of the links included in the recipe and blog post are affiliate links, which means that if you make purchases through these links, I make a small commission to help defray the costs of running this blog (at no extra charge to you). Thanks for your help!

Make the crust. Whisk the dry ingredients, then add the wet ingredients and mix well. Press into a greased 10" spring-form pan and bake at 350* for 6 minutes. Turn the oven down to 325* to prepare for baking the cheesecake.

Make the cheesecake filling. Beat the first six ingredients (cream cheese through salt) together until smooth. Add the sour cream and beat again. Add the eggs and beat well until everything is thoroughly incorporated. Fold in the chocolate chips. Pour the cheesecake batter over the hot crust. Place a large piece of tinfoil around the bottom of the spring-form pan and set the pan in a larger pan with a lip. (I use a pizza pan with sides.) Fill the larger pan with ½"-1" of water. Put the whole contraption in the oven and bake at 325* for 1 hr. and 5 min. or until the cheesecake is set. Turn the oven off, crack the door open, and let the cheesecake cool in the oven for 10 minutes. Remove the cheesecake from the oven.

Make the caramel while the cheesecake is cooling in the oven so both will still be warm when you're ready to use the caramel. Heat the cream and butter in a nonstick pan; whisk in the rest of the ingredients while the butter melts. (Add the xanthan gum while whisking so it doesn't clump.) Bring the mixture to a slow boil, then cover and cook for 7 minutes or until thickened, adjusting the heat downwards as far as possible while still retaining a slow boil. Doing it this way produces a lot of caramel sauce without as much intense caramel flavor. If you'd like more flavor and less sauce, leave the caramel uncovered and cook longer if necessary until the caramel reaches your desired caramelization. Whisk occasionally to keep the caramel from burning, especially if you decide to cook it longer.

When the cheesecake and caramel are both done, top the cheesecake with your desired amount of chopped pecans and sugar-free chocolate chips. Pour the caramel sauce over the cheesecake. (The warm caramel will melt the chocolate chips a little, which I like.) Garnish with additional chopped pecans and chocolate chips. Refrigerate the cheesecake overnight to chill and set completely before removing from the pan, cutting, and serving.

Notes

*I use a combination of reduced-fat and full-fat cream cheese. The more full-fat ingredients you use, the less likely your cheesecake is to crack on top. Using room temperature ingredients also helps with this.The only actual source of nuts in this is the pecans, so if you leave them off, people with nut allergies can enjoy a chocolate chip cheesecake with caramel sauce (provided that you can handle the coconut flour in my baking mix and find certified nut-free sugar-free chocolate chips).If you don't have my baking mix on hand, you can try THM Baking Blend in its place. You'll probably need an extra tablespoon or two since my mix is drier and soaks up more liquid.

Comments

On 12-16-2016 I ordered your 365 booklaunchbundle for $17.99. I am unable to download it because I use an ipad. I just found where I can buy your spiral-bound book (YEAH!), but I need you to refund my original payment through PayPal first. Order ID 0013871856
Gateway Transaction ID 8A073135EX8053812
Martha A Rogers
I am just getting ready to begin the THM eating plan, and I need all the help I can get! I am so looking forward to getting your book in my hands! I wish you great success with this book. Merry Christmas!

Hi Anne! I just sent you an email. I think you’re getting me mixed up with Jen over at WorkingatHomeschool.com. She’s the one who published the meal plan ebook. You can contact her by emailing [email protected]. =)

Ok Brianna…. this is unrelated to this but I am being so impatient to get your book!!! I got an email early last week and said it shipped! I still haven’t gotten it… just hoping it all went through fine and there isn’t any problems!!! Sorry I am so excited about your book! I have been waiting FOREVER :)!!!!!!! So thanks for all you do!!!

Hi Lana! You should be getting it any day now! I know there are some other people who are still waiting as well. If you don’t get it by the end of the week, please let me know and I’ll put you in touch with the distributor.

Hi! Wondering if there is any substitution for oat bran in your recipes? I have your new cookbook, love cooking your recipes, but oat bran, without fail, has consequences (lots of gas!) for me. 😯 Will my body become accustomed to it? Anything else I can use in it’s place? Thanks!

Merry Christmas Briana! I cannot get my family to stray from the regular Christmas menu this year, but I hope to get most of us started on THM this January. Maybe I can try it for Valentine’s Day.
Christmas hugs,
Laura Lane

Yes, you could use all Gentle Sweet. 🙂 When replacing the Super Sweet with Gentle Sweet, use twice as much Gentle Sweet. Taste the batter before baking and add more if you like to make sure it’s sweet enough for you (some people say I don’t sweeten things enough).

Merry Christmas Briana !! May God Bless You and Your Family !! I enjoy your recipes and look forward to using your cookbook recipes in 2017 !!
Merry Christmas from My Family to Yours
Angela Grice and Family

Hi Sanet! I can’t find it locally here in the USA either; we always order it online. I know some people substitute psyllium husk for oat fiber, but I haven’t personally tried that. If you can find that locally, it would be worth a try, though! Oat fiber can be kind of hard to substitute for because it’s a really fine, dry flour and most low-carb flours are quite different from it.

I’m afraid oat fiber is a unique flour with a very fine, dry texture. Some people substitute it 1:1 with psyllium husks, but I haven’t tried that personally. If you don’t have it, you could try substituting another low-carb flour in the crust, adjusting the amount until you get course crumbs to press into the pan. I would just omit it out of the cheesecake part because you don’t want to use another flour that may add a grittiness to your cheesecake layer. It may not set up quite as firmly but should still work. 🙂

Hi! I don’t usually calculate nutrition info since the healthy eating lifestyle I follow (Trim Healthy Mama) doesn’t require it, but you can put the link into MyFitnessPal and get the facts very quickly!

I have never made a THM cheesecake before, or more than a couple at all. The flavors were lovely, but I was hoping for a smoother, creamier texture. Is this a mistaken hope, something I should have done differently, or a difference in preference that I could achieve with a modification or two?

I really do appreciate your recipes and the hard work of repeated modification (and consumption of repeated products!).

I’m sorry it wasn’t what you were expecting! Mine are usually very creamy and smooth. What brand of oat fiber did you use? There are pretty big differences in brands. I use LifeSource brand from Netrition (affiliate link: https://www.briana-thomas.com/recommends/oat-fiber/) which has a very fine texture, light color, and no discernable flavor in something like this. Other brands like NuNaturals tend to be gritty, darker in color, and taste like Play-doh. That’s the first thing that comes to mind. Using full fat sour cream and cream cheese will give you a denser, creamier texture if that’s what you’re looking for. Mine usually turns out creamy enough with reduced-fat cream cheese so I use that to eliminate needless calories, but you may wish to experiment with full fat ingredients. 🙂